Edward Belski

Biography

The artist was born in 1963. Studied at the Kiev National Academy of Art with professor Storozhenko.

He is an artist in his prime. Impetuous, humorous, clever, astir with creative energy. He is a person determined to seize every moment of life and to make the most of each. A consumate professional, a prolific painter, a loving father and husband, and a slightly enigmatic character are all a part of what makes Belski who he is.

Being constantly busy with his secular concerns, he nevertheless rushes to his studio every day as to prayer. There, in his workspace, a great mystery occurs where his received impressions are transferred to the canvas through a plenitude of emotional outpouring.

The subject of his body of work has been clearly delineated from the start: it's elemental. Water is his chosen element and provides the base, emotionally and artistically for his pictures. In his works, HE is a ship named Edward sailing the seas of the mind and heart. Around him lives calm and the ideal. His haven is the waves, the smell of the salty air, the gentle rocking of his ship, and the expanse of endless space stretching out toward the ever-distant horizon - all part of his language of metaphor and emotion.Women are also a prominent aspect of the content of his paintings. They are delicate, dreamy, graceful and somewhat unreal. Some of them appear as warriors with strong features and helmet-like hats adorning them. Others seem as though they might be priestesses full of ideas about the future and wisdom about life. These female characters are notably never specific and furthermore, Belski does not work from live models or photographs. Many of the female portraits in fact, may be viewed as parts of Belski himself - the artist's examination or exploration of the many facets which comprise his being. In composition, Belski often concerns himself with harmony and the equality of things. His pictures are often of two people together: a pair of faces, two faces in one, two figures in one, etc. All images reflect his treatment of the metamorphic quality both nature and humans possess, beyond this, the idea that there is a greater harmony and order in the world.

While Belski's style is often seen to reflect a great influence from the French school, it is still very much his own. His authorship is an integral part of each work as his signature brush strokes and color compositions are unmistakably his. The sensuality and visceral approach to his work lend it all a great sense of emotion. They are meditations and vessels of his emotional life and the profound travels of his mind and heart.

It is a pleasure to watch this artist grow and change with time. He offers us a world at once familiar and fantastic. Elements of the real combine with and enjoy their counterparts from the Belsky's imagination.